This invention has a technical pertinence to the Japanese patent Application No.7-166,682 of the same inventor filed in the name of the assignee of the present invention on Jun. 30, 1995, entitled ‘Game Machine System and Game Method Capable of Commercial Advertisements’.
Recently, game machines have been propagated not only in the dedicated game corner shops, but also in homes, such that the racing game software of a vehicle or the aircraft flight simulator game software is marketed in large quantities.
In the game machine, if a game software item, such as a racing game software item, is started, the landscape faithfully representing a real F1 racing field is represented on a display. Each racing car is run on a circuit course at an elevated speed in accordance with commands entered by an operator via an operating board, such as a joystick.
Although commercial ads are presented in the real F1 racing field on a walling of a background circuit course, placards, advertising towers or on a chassis of the vehicle, there lacks an instance of positively incorporating the corresponding commercial ads in the game software.
The ads built on the game are limited to advertisements of the software producing firms before or after the game of the game software or on scene change, while there lacks an instance in which positive commercial ads are made in particular scenes in the game software.
Even if ads are sometimes displayed in the background, these are formal ads for faithfully simulating the real landscape of the circuit course, while there are no instances of commercial ads taking profitability into account.
The current civil TV broadcasting firms are managed by profits from the commercial ads, instead of broadcasting fees being charged to the receivers.
In similar manner, if commercial ads can be built into the walling of the background circuit course, placards or advertising towers of the game software, for meeting the demands of a third firm, the advertisement fees can be charged to the advertising firm so that the sale price of the game software can be lowered or reduced to zero.
Moreover, since a particular game software is thought to be used a number of times, if the contents of the ads can be optionally modified or updated, these will prove to be effective commercial ads to lead to expected advertisement income. This accounts for the motive which has led to the present invention.
The Japanese patent application No.7-166,682 discloses an invention in which it is proposed to introduce commercial ads during the game.
The insertion of the commercial ads leads to cost reduction and hence to increased sale volume of the game software.
However, there lacks a suitable method whereby it can be judged whether or not the commercial ads are introduced and in operation so that, if there are introduced no commercial ads, the operation of the software will cease.
If the commercial ads are introduced and in operation, the sponsors of the commercial ads have to bear and pay the charges. Therefore, it is necessary to inhibit the operation of the software without making the commercial ads. This, however, has not been taken into account sufficiently in the invention pertaining to the Japanese Patent application No.7-166,682.
When a game software is first presented for sale, many users use the software. However, as time elapses since the start of sale, the number of the users is decreased.
If the number of the users is decreased, the utility of the game software as the commercial ads is decreased. In a game machine which cannot be run unless the updated commercial ads are introduced, it is necessary to distribute the updated software data although the commercial ads are lowered in utility, thus raising the cost of the software.